You Don't Buy Brick, You Invest In It.

5 Year Home Appraisal: Brick vs. Vinyl

On average, Marshall & Swift Residential Cost Handbook (2009) assigns an increased appraisal factor of 9.52% to structures that are masonry instead of vinyl. In the example below, this factor applied to the structure minus an arbitrary cost of lot amount yields an increased appraised value of more than $5,000 for the brick house versus the vinyl house after five years.

Assume a basic 2,500 square foot house appraised initially at $200,000 and appreciated 4% in year one and 3% in years 2-5.

Vinyl - $200,000
5 yrs later - $236,000

Brick - $213,000
5 years later - $256,000

Information detailing initial cost to homeowner, extra "real" cost in mortgage payments as well as tax and interest consequences show that brick actually pays you back after five years. On the example shown the actual payback is more than $1,500. And this doesn't even include the savings on maintenance, heating and cooling costs and insurance premiums. Bottom line: Brick houses don't cost more and appraised values are higher!